Ministry under fire for listing Fethullah Gülen among most dangerous terrorists
Despite the absence of any court decision to list prominent Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen as a terrorist, Turkey's Interior Ministry has placed him on a list of the most dangerous and wanted terrorists in a move that has attracted widespread criticism for being merely politically motivated.
The ministry has opened a website that includes the names of the most wanted terrorists. Five categories with different colors have been established, with the terrorists in the red category being the most dangerous.
Fethullah Gülen’s name is cited in the red category with senior terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) operatives such as Murat Karayılan, Cemil Bayık, Fehman Hüseyin and Duran Kalkan. The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU, has been waging a bloody war in Turkey’s Southeast since 1984. The name of the terrorist organization Fethullah Gülen allegedly belongs to is cited as “FETÖ/PDY terror organization.” FETÖ stands for “Fethullahist Terror Organization,” while PDY is an acronym for the “Parallel State Structure.”
The “parallel state,” or “parallel structure,” is a term frequently used by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, its former leader President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his supporters to refer to the Fethullah Gülen or Hizmet movement, inspired by Fethullah Gülen.
Erdoğan launched a battle against the movement following a graft probe that was made public in late 2013 in which senior government members were implicated. Erdoğan, who was prime minister at the time, accuses the movement of establishing a parallel state within the state and masterminding the graft probe with the aim of toppling his government, while the movement strongly denies the accusations.
The ministry’s website also promises a reward to those who help with the capture of the wanted terrorists.
According to Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Mehmet Bekaroğlu, Fethullah Gülen being placed on the same list as PKK terrorists is part of efforts to discredit and defame the Islamic scholar, in addition to being nonsensical and irrational.
Professor Ahmet Altan, who is also a journalist, said such a conspiracy as the one targeting Fethullah Gülen was not even seen during military regimes in the country. Altan said the government’s war on Fethullah Gülen is merely related to the corruption allegations that came to surface with the Dec.17 and 25 graft investigations in 2013.
Another academic, Professor Levent Köker, also reacted to Fethullah Gülen being named as a terrorist by the Interior Ministry and said it is a very heavy insult to name a person like Fethullah Gülen a terrorist without any legal grounds to substantiate it.
Lawyer and columnist Orhan Kemal Cengiz lamented the fact that the Turkish state gives more priority to the arrest of Fethullah Gülen than arresting radical Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorists. ISIL carried out the deadliest terrorist attack in Turkey’s history, in the capital, Ankara, on Oct. 10, claiming the lives of 102 people.
Most ISIL terrorists are listed on the Interior Ministry’s website in the blue category, which is for less dangerous terrorists.
Yavuz Bülent Bakiler, a poet and writer, said he is ashamed of Fethullah Gülen’s name being listed among terrorists, adding that there cannot be any greater error than this. He said Fethullah Gülen is a person who makes the Turkish flag fly abroad with honor, referring to the Turkish schools that have been opened by people across more than 100 countries in the world thanks to Fethullah Gülen’s advice.
Fethullah Gülen is a respected figure all over the world for his efforts to promote education, interfaith dialogue and tolerance.
Professor Niyazi Öktem said it is both ridiculous and scandalous to put Fethullah Gülen’s name among the names of terrorists given the fact that Fethullah Gülen has made a huge contribution to Turkey’s democratization process and Islam’s interpretation according to its essence as being pro-freedom and humanist.
Yılma Durak, a well-respected figure among nationalists in Turkey, also voiced his shock over the scholar’s name being on the list of the most dangerous terrorists. He said he has known Fethullah Gülen and his followers for years, adding that they have always promoted peace and the language of love for years.
In the meantime, Fethullah Gülen’s lawyer, Nurullah Albayrak, released a statement on Thursday in which he said his client’s name being placed among the names of the terrorists is a clear violation of the presumption of innocence, adding that he will take the necessary legal action against the move.
The lawyer also said there is no reason for his client to be on the wanted list because he has been residing at the same address for 15 years and anyone can easily reach him.
Fethullah Gülen has been living in self-imposed exile in the US since 1999.
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